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An anxious wait for the families of two men kidnapped in the troubled Niger Delta continues tonight.
Bruce Klenner, from New Plymouth, and Brent Goddard, from Wellington were kidnapped with three other men at dawn yesterday as they worked on an oil drilling rig in the Niger Delta region.
The other men kidnapped were Jason Lane from Australia, George Saliba from Lebanon, and Andreas Gambra from Venezuela.
They were working for American-based Lone Star Drilling which is contracted to oil giant Shell.
Few details have been uncovered about the incident, but the New Zealand Government says it is doing all it can to free the men with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working closely with its Australian counterpart.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said the Government was in contact with Shell Oil.
"The oil company should be taking proper care of the security arrangements," Miss Clark told Radio New Zealand.
"There has been considerable instability in Nigeria, particularly around oil company related issues. So people do go to work there knowing it's not the safest place to be."
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the Government was also in touch with the Nigerian Government.
"We're dealing with the family, the Nigerian Government through its ambassador in Canberra and with the employers," he said.
"We are ensuring that we are engaged as much as we can be."
A Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said the ministry was also offering support to the families of the men in New Zealand.
Mr Goddard's partner Gilly Sannazzaro told Radio New Zealand she felt numb when she was told of the kidnapping.
"From my perspective the safety issue has always been of a concern for me, but he's always been reassuring and has told me that there's no need to worry - he's safer over there than we are in our own country.
"And, I think that's come to bite us in the bum now."
She had been told by Lone Star that contact had been made with the group responsible.
Mr Klenner's wife Linda Klenner said it was a nervous time and she would spend the next few days by the telephone.
The couple had talked about the risks involved with the job but she was confident the situation would be resolved.
"I think there is risk in any job really ... but it's just where it is and the volatility of the place. But I just honestly believe it's going to be all right - you have to."
Lone Star had been keeping her well informed about developments in Nigeria and she believed the company would do all it could to get the men returned.
The company has told her sources in Nigeria said the men had not been harmed, Mrs Klenner said.
New Zealand High Commissioner to Britain, who is also accredited to Nigeria, Jonathan Hunt, said today there were few details about the motive of the kidnap.
"We don't know who abducted them or if any demands have been received from the kidnappers," Mr Hunt told Radio New Zealand.
He said in his experience Nigeria was a difficult place to deal with and hoped officials there were treating the matter with some urgency.
The Niger Delta has been at the centre of a long confrontation between the government, militants who claim to be fighting for a larger share of oil resources for locals and a plethora of armed gangs out to make ransom money.
About 200 foreigners, mostly oil workers, have been kidnapped in the region since the beginning of 2006.
Mr Hunt labelled the people involved in kidnappings in the oil regions as "criminals just wanting some extra money".
Foreign Affairs' Safe Travel website said there was an "extreme" security risk in Nigeria's Delta state with increasing armed attacks against foreigners and rising crime and kidnappings.
The risks were not as extreme in other parts of the country.
Yesterday's incident came after southern Nigeria's most prominent armed group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, announced the end of a month-long suspension of attacks on oil installations, called to allow talks with the new government.
- NZPA
